All literature uses some kinds of special ways to make a story or a poem
interesting. The appearance, actions, speech and thoughts of their
characters illustrate most stories. In the stories and poems that I
read: a song in the Front Yard, Girls, Mother and son, A conversation with my father and His story. Each of them expresses their point of view through a female point of view. All of these poems and story had different theme, but in the end there, they were revealed the same feeling. The poem ” A song in the Front Yard” is a simple expression poem which at first glance seems to be about a girl is much over protected by her parents that in turn lead her to make a wrongful decision on her future.
The symbolism is the main tool used to discover what the author is trying to say. I like this poem because the symbolism causes a greatdeal of think and analyzing to understand it. In the first stanza ” Iwant to peek at the back. Where it’s rough and untended and hungry weedgrows” This may mean that she is, for once, wanted to see how the outside world really likes. Eventhough, it is not safe and wonderful as the world that she is living in now. ” A girl gets sick of a rose” means she is tired of how her parents babying her. She just wants to have alittle more space, perhaps a little more freedom.
In the third stanza, the author talks about the beautiful and exciting image of the outside world that she is painted through her imagination. “My mother sneers, but I say it’s fine. How they don’t have to go in at quarter of mine.” This may mean she is feeling tire of the way her mom treated hers. She also feels depress and loneliness about her room, her house and her mom. Finally, in the end, she decides that reverse of whatever her mom said is right as the fourth stanza states ” But I say it’s fine. Honest, I do. And I liked to be a bad woman, too” means that author just for once in her life that she could make her own choice, and choose her own path of life even if it is a wrong decision. The tone and sound of this poem conveys and attitude toward her parents. In the second and third stanzas, the author conveys an attitude oppose of the girl against her mom will. The symbolism already explained above helps to understand this tone. The author is saying that the girl try to break free from the imaginary wall that her parents created to separate her from the outside world. Her parents in their mind thought that by totally isolating their daughter from bad
environment is good for her. However, because of their method of dictating their daughter life that reversibly yields an unfavorable result.
There is a phrase that people here time and time again, but don’t truly understand the meaning of it until the phrase can be applied to their own lives. You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. The story “A conversation with my father” is a direct reflection of this quote. The story talks about how her father about to past away and he finally realizes how much his mom mean to him. And it was only until he is about passed away was it that he truly did realize how much he missed those events of him and his mother. Sometimes people don’t understand how important others mean to them until it is too late.
I found the story to be very well written and very touching but very complex and hard to understand. The author did a good job of describing how easy it is to overlook some of the better things in life until you about to die. you can see on a first couple paragraph that her father had something to tell his daughter; which he kept for himself for so long until the final moment when he lies on bed with his last breath he tries explained to his daughter through a novel of a famous russian author. Another aspect that can be derived from this story is the father obvious intentions to give his daughter an awareness of the many adversities life can obtain. He has made sure she leads a life that doesn’t result from a spoiled childhood. He made her attentive of a hard days work, which is probably one of the best things a father can teach his child. It is absolutely essential that parents in general teach their
children the many hardships life may behold. This gives the child a better direction in means of future obligations.
The author describes the stories of boy’s mother who would do anything for her son even it means risk her own life for him. However, in the end, when he finally realizes what his mom had done for him and how much she means to him. it was only then that
he realized how much he misses her. The author seems to use the story that told by the daughter to gives us the image of her father pass.
I was born under a crook star. (His Story, line 1). When one reads a
line such as this, one cannot help but think that the poet must been having
alot of bad luck in her life, and that, in fact, the tone of the
poem is filled with bad decisions making one after another. However, this is not the case in the poem’s His Story. At first glance, the tone of the poem seems sorrow and hopeless. However, when one looks deeper into the poem to find its underlying meanings, one discovers that the tone of the poem is more like voice that crying out for justice.
As the first stanza of ” His story” begins, the poem’s speaker wastes no time in revealing her driving motivation. Telling how it feels like to be live in the family where people always think that you are the root of all the troubles in the family. The author also attempts to tell her pain through the voice of her father. The symbol “a crooked star” means that she was born in the wrong family and perhaps, at the wrong time. On the second stanza “It is an ancient fate” means that what happen to her now had had happened in her family line dating way back to her great grandmother. The line “who no one came for And no one chased away” means that’s she is now old enough to have a family of her own but still live with her family. Then in the same stanza she starts talking about all the thing that happen to and done by all the women that related to her. The third and fourth stanzas basically describe how each women had done to disgrace the family value. Notice that all the stories about those women were
written in the past tense and each line tell how they are related to her. Such as “To a great aunt no one mentions.” (line 9), “The cousin with the famous”(line 14), Grandmother’s mother” (line 21) and “A girl with both my names Was arrested for audacious crimes” (line 27 and 28). All the things happen great aunt, cousin, grandmother’s mother and a girl, seem to either have nothing to do with her or something that had happened long time ago. The last stanza “an unlucky fate is mine” means that she did not do anything wrong but just becuase she was born in the family that had all the troubles women she then also have to share the same fate. In the last line of the last stanza ” And one female, gone” could mean that her mom die after her birth which could explain all the sorrow of her father.
the author of story ” Girls” wrote it with one intention and that is trying to tell people of how hard it is to be born as a girl. When you read the story, it makes you feel like you are reading a regulation book of some company. As you read through the story you will see that there is no period at all. So what the author tries to get at is that these are many things that we, girls, had to listen and do each and everyday. In addition, the author uses a language through a commanding voice to explain the suppression that girls that had to subject to in a family. So As the narrator wrote in this short story, she strives to become more individualistic, she feels pressure to change into society’s image of a woman. In order to do so, however, she must change herself spiritually to meet the demands of others. In particular, the narrator states; A girl was not, as I had supposed, simply what I was; it was what I had to become.
The poem “mother and son” is a simple and straight forward poem about a mother who tries to give her son her point of view on life. She tells him that no matter what happen, he should never give up. To her no way is an easy way, you have to work hard to get what you wanted.
Although these poems tell different stories, they all contain the main themes pain and more pain. After reading each of these poems, it is obvious that stories of
misery were very short but hidden a meaningful value. Authors wrote about pain and exile possibly to lighten the spirits of those fortunate to have the things that had been taken away from the people in the stories, or maybe people of this period just enjoyed reading depressing stories. These five poems and short stories did a great job
of showing how reality of life is and how it really causes pain amongst the people suffering from it.
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